Spurs hold off Suns, take 3-2 series lead

SAN ANTONIO -- The Phoenix Suns fell so far behind so quickly and apparently so willfully it almost seemed to be their strategy.

That forced the San Antonio Spurs to spend the night watching Phoenix give chase again. The Spurs had all game to consider the six consecutive playoff losses in which they had blown fourth-quarter leads. They felt the heat as the Suns closed from behind just as they had in each of their two victories of the Western Conference first-round series and just as the Los Angeles Lakers did in each of their wins over San Antonio in the second round last year.

"You could tell they were feeling that way once we made that run in the third quarter," Phoenix guard Penny Hardaway said. "The fans started to get a little antsy, and the team started feeling a little nervous. They really didn't handle the pressure well."

Even so, the Suns never got close enough to bank in a 3-pointer at the buzzer or get a running jump hook from Jake Voskuhl. When the lead, once as great as 24, was cut to only six points, the Spurs recovered as if there never was reason for doubt and pulled away for a 94-82 victory Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series.

"We really kept our composure when they came with their pressure," said forward Tim Duncan, who scored 23 points, and led San Antonio with 17 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots. "You have to give (the Suns) credit for the way they came out and attacked us back. We did a great job of countering that attack."

Phoenix guard Stephon Marbury, playing with a stretched tendon in his right shoulder that left him weak and uncharacteristically hesitant, made only one of his first 10 shots and was only 5-of-18 overall for 13 points.

The Suns started the game with little energy and did not shoot well enough to compensate for their defensive shortcomings, trailing 54-30 at halftime.

Even after Phoenix rallied by going to a manic, trapping defense fronted by the elastic quickness of Bo Outlaw, the Suns trailed by 15 when Outlaw fouled out with 8:25 left.

But Phoenix kept up the pressure with a defense that forced turnovers, turned around the game and hinted at another Spurs second-half breakdown.

"We came up with the energy in the second half," said Suns forward Shawn Marion, who led Phoenix with 22 points. "We took them out of a lot of stuff they want to do. We made them turn the ball over. We did close the gap.

"When we are aggressive out there, we can cause havoc on anyone we're playing. That's when we're at our best. We were playing them tremendously in the third quarter. We were causing turnovers. We were making them take rushed shots. We were limiting them to one shot."

But before any lasting damage could be done, the Spurs found an answer.

On the day the voting for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award was announced, San Antonio's Malik Rose proved to be the key reserve of the night.

But when the Suns went to a small, trapping lineup, Rose, who finished sixth in the balloting, came up huge.

"He fed and moved off of Tim and David (Robinson) tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He didn't worry about going one-on-one or making great moves. He just played power basketball."

Rose had 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting and added 13 rebounds. Not only did he burn a Phoenix defense that seemed unconcerned with his strength inside, but he also bounced back from a costly defensive blunder in Game 4 where he played the wrong defense, eventually freeing Voskuhl to sink the game-winner.

"I thought we were in one defense where I would go and trap the ball," Rose said of his mistake in Sunday's game. "We weren't in that defense. I screwed up. Had I not done that, the series might be over right now."

Tuesday's victory was not complete until San Antonio took care of one final order of business. Holding a six-point lead with less than two minutes left, Bruce Bowen missed a 3-pointer but was fouled in the corner.

Marbury argued he never touched Bowen -- when asked what had happened on the play, he said only "I don't know" -- and Bowen went to the line for three free throws. Bowen, a 40.4 percent free-throw shooter this season, knocked down his first two to give the Spurs an eight-point lead. The Suns never got closer than six again.

"That was like a dagger in the heart," Suns forward Amare Stoudemire said, "but not from a player."

San Antonio made nine of 13 free throws in the final 72 seconds. Tuesday's victory might have been less than artistic, but it was enough to move the Spurs to within a win of advancing and conquering their fourth-quarter demons at least for a night.

It even helped diminish the disappointment Rose had in falling short in the Sixth Man voting.

"Maybe one day I'll win it," Rose said. "It would be nice to win it, but hopefully we'll win the championship instead."